State of the Union Smack Down *Video*

The CATO Institute responds to President Obama’s 2012 State of the Union address on issues that include job creation, taxes, small business policy, education, Iran, the energy industry, Congressional authority to wage war, and even addresses secret assassination lists.

While the President paints a rosy picture (it is an election year after all), not everything is as it seems. Taking a brief look just below the surface of the platitudes reveals a completely different story, not just about the state of affairs in America, but the willingness of officials on all levels of government to continue perpetuating the myth of a system where we get something for nothing.

The president’s address — more campaign speech than policy platform — was long on calls for “fairness” and “opportunity,” but it really boiled down to the president’s vision of a society where government does everything for everyone — financed, of course, by higher taxes on “the rich,” who need to pay “their fair share.”